The successful mat rider surfs only when he or she is
feeling like it, not when the surf is good. Waiting weeks or months for the perfect
day, then blowing off work, your child’s birthday, or a wedding anniversary to get
to the surf is verboten for the mat
rider who strives for a permanent smile on his or her face. Mat surfers enhance
their real life with mat surfing, they do not displace their real life with mat surfing.

Simply put, any go out is a good go out...

...unless you're complete deluded, in which case, you're in a permanent state of rapture!

2. Dawn Patrols...Optional!

If you do feel like pulling on a clammy
wetsuit in the dark, then getting the breath sucked out of you as you push through the first set of white water waves, knock yourself out. The successful, self respecting mat rider sleeps in, takes his or her time with their morning rituals, then hits it when they feel like it. Bonus points: if you lag at home long enough, the wind has driven out the morning crowds!

3. Surf Buddy Selection

This one gets tricky, because the last thing the successful
mat rider needs is to create a barrier between themselves and other, arguably
less enlightened surfers. But damn, the wrong surfing partner can really screw
things up! They push you into lineups you might otherwise avoid, on days you
would rather sit at home and read a book.

A sure red flag: Stay clear of any surf partner who EVER utters the phrase, “wave count.” Once you start judging your session by how many waves
you rode, you may as well subscribe to Surfline and start calling everyone“dude” or "bro."

4. Mat Model Selection

The successful mat rider: a) owns a number of different
mats, b) rides more than one model, and c) resists the temptation to own and
ride just one mat.

These points are universally accepted…so the next query is,
which of your many mats should you ride today?

Answer: It doesn’t really matter. They're all fun in their own way.

Extreme quivering: Mister Dirk owns over 500 4GF mats, and transports them all to his favorite point break every morning on a flatbed 18 wheeler...

5. Inflation level
Much has been written about the variable nature of a mat...because you can inflate it at higher or lower rates, and thus generate a wide performance envelope.

The successful mat rider doesn't get too fussy. Just blow the mo-fo up and go for it!

6. Performance Anxiety

We’ve all had it, even when we’re surfing a mat by ourselves,
10 miles from the next closest surfer.

The successful mat rider realizes that no one in the water
has a clue what you’re feeling when you ride a mat…and feeling is the
salient element of mat surfing.

This is how cool it feels to be a mat surfer...

This is what others see...

We come off like kooks no matter what, so get
over it!

7. Après Surf

Here’s where things start to get interesting. What does the
successful mat rider do after he or she hits the proverbial showers? Food?Sex?Intoxicants? Yes please...

8

. Sell all your boards.

The PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE of mat surfing experience is when you happily sell off all your boards. The successful mat rider uses the funds to buff their family with stuff they'd never buy for themselves. You're a hero...and your garage is suddenly more spacious. Win-win, personified!

Feel free to round out the list in the comments section…with one proviso: we will be judiciously filtering incoming comments. History has shown that the Surfmatters reader demo tends to be on the salacious side.

Dec 26, 2014

Best mat wave I have ever had, one of the best tubes in recent memory. So glad the moment was captured. For three days after this ride people were still stoked and talking about it!

I took off and was almost immediately in the tube behind the lip. My head poked out briefly twice, first after 6-8 seconds and the second time after 4-6 seconds. The third disappearance lasted another 4-6 seconds.

The mat was the Omni with the DRP rails. It held the wave flawlessly, best edge hold of any of the mats. It really lets the rider focus more on getting deeper than worrying as much about losing grip on the face. It is also fast and catches waves well. I have ridden some other types of mats plus all my 4GF mats and can say with confidence that the new bottom is pure genius.

Dec 24, 2014

But if you surf, you get inundated every year with images of surfing Santas. It's cute until you're into your 20's, then it's tedious stuff you're forced to smile at. One can only wonder about the d-bags who don Santa suits and paddle out for the cameras every year. Do they think it's original or funny...or even interesting? Don't they know this has been going on for at least 60 years?

It all started with relatively innocent Christmas cards, with a surfing Santa theme. Not bad, in retrospect...

Photo shopped Santas have been around since, well, the emergence of photo shopping. Of course, the waves shown would be outside the desired size and power range for a guy in a Santa suit! Imagine a two wave hold-down wearing a fake beard and a red flannel hat...

There there's the, "Let's get a big group of Santas together and go surfing!" crowd. Whatever they're drinkin', send me a case...

And what photog could resist the obligatory, "hot chick in a skimpy Santa suit at the beach" cliche'...

Somewhere back in the 80's, the "shaka" sign became a part of mainstream culture...so of course, it's now de rigueur with every friggin' Santa surfing image.

Then, just when we thought we'd hit rock bottom, up pops surfing Santa surf school teachers...

Of course, tangential water sports like SUPeeing and kite surfing are getting into the act...

And we can't end it without the annual, "Norad Santa Tracker finds Santa in the line-up" schtick !